Halcyon Days
by Blue Funk
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has their own muse. Perfectly common. But Axel made the mistake of allowing his muse to almost get into Roxas's pants, and that, in itself, is not common at all. AkuRoku, slight RikuRoku
1. The Kingfisher

**Halcyon Days**

_Chapter One - "The Kingfisher"

* * *

_

**Halcyon Day Three, The End**

"If you hadn't decided to just slither down his pants, this never would have happened!"

"Aw, c'mon, I just wanted to see it. Who knows, maybe your name really is on it."

"That's not even the point! At this point, he thinks I'm completely insane and whatever chances I've had with him are ruined!"

"That is, if he really is the one."

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

"You just don't know how to have fun."

"You _tried to sneak into his boxers_! That is, in no way, fun!"

"… says you."

Axel and Reno were fighting again. This wasn't anything new. In fact, the arguments between the two were very common-place in the third floor dwelling of Kichi Apartments, as they had been for a year now. The two engaged in squabbling activities so often, in fact, that it had become almost habit for the pair to raise their voices at each other. Nothing odd there. The only odd thing was that...

When the neighbors would roll their eyes and turn up their music or televisions louder, they heard only Axel arguing with himself.

Reno wasn't actually real.

Well, at least, to the average person, he wasn't. To Axel, he was completely genuine and happened to be sitting right on his desk, tail wiggling and his ferrety nose twitching right in front of his shiny, ferrety eyes.

At this point, the average person would probably slowly back away to eventually turn and run. Most people did, at least. They also said Axel was crazy, insane, a lunatic, on meds, on crack, on ecstasy, on drugs in general... _or_, Axel's two favorites, that he had hit his head when he was little and had afterwards also escaped from a mental institution.

Really, it all lay in the definition of the word "sane." The mass majority of people, as compared to Axel, possess a very different opinion on the word itself. If "sane" meant free from mental disorder, then Axel most definitely fit the bill. However, if "sane" also meant that you didn't have imaginary animals speak to you on a daily basis, and, in Reno's case, argue non-stop with you, then Axel unfortunately fell a little short. He didn't think so, though. In fact, in his mind, he was 100 percent perfectly normal. Everyone else was just a little weird because they _didn't_ have muses in the form of animals chattering at him all day.

The only thing weird about the situation was that Reno's ferrety stripes were a dull crimson and not the usual black.

The topic of their conversation, or, really, quarrel, was bizarre in Axel's mind, as well; a blonde who had recently moved in down the hall in his apartment building. According to Reno, he was a "hottie." And Axel didn't want to admit it, but he agreed. To himself, at least. The blonde _was_ a "hottie."

The only bad part was that said blonde "hottie" was a guy with a boyfriend. A guy with a boyfriend who already thought that he, Axel, the perfectly _sane_ one, was crazy.

* * *

**Halcyon Day One**

Axel tapped the tip of his pencil's eraser against his bottom lip as he stared down at the sketch pad. He was at a loss. Reno was lounging on the windowsill directly in front of him, his ferrety tail twitching in his sleep as the morning sun warmed his fur. And Axel just couldn't figure out how illustrate a particular expression for the dog he was going to paint in later. With a soft sigh, he put the pencil to paper again, about to start a doodle, when there was a loud, abrupt thud on his door.

Reno snorted himself awake and flopped to the desk as Axel looked up, the pencil tip snapping as his hand twitched in surprise.

There was giggling beyond the door. Axel stood, setting the writing utensil down. More snickering and sounds of thumps. Usually, one knocked to enter someone's apartment, not slammed their body into the door. Wary now, the red-head strode over to the exit of his apartment and cautiously opened it… to find two boys engaged into a firm lip-lock. As soon as the one who had his back to Axel lost the support of the door, he nearly fell over backwards, but his partner held up upright.

"Um… hi." The taller man said with a wide smirk, the one facing Axel. Axel only stared at him, taking in the silver hair with a blank expression. The other male turned in his boyfriend's arms and Axel was abruptly hit with a shock of blue eyes. All of the pissed off and reprimanding thoughts in his head were wiped out in an instant.

He, at least, had the decency of looking embarrassed. The blue-eyed blonde smiled sheepishly, wiping his lips hurriedly as a faint flush scattered over his cheeks. "Sorry about that."

Axel recovered quickly, quirking an eyebrow as he felt Reno begin to clamber up his leg. Before an awkward silence proceeded to fall over the group, the blonde extended a hand. "I'm Roxas."

The ferret settled on his friend's shoulder, a growl escaping his mouth as he regarded Roxas. "Oh, Roxas. I like that name. Rrroxas."

"Axel." Axel grasped the hand, ignoring Reno completely. Roxas's hand was soft, but the handshake was firm. Eye-contact was established and Roxas grinned. Before he would caught staring or holding onto his hand too long, the red-head turned to the other man. "And you are…?"

The other immediately launched into another handshake. "Riku. We're your new neighbors."

"Now him, him I don't like." Reno muttered immediately. "Too cocky."

Reno's commentary was cut short as Axel casually brushed at his shoulder, appearing to be scratching there when he really purposely knocked the ferret to the ground. There was a satisfying thud.

"Oh?" Axel hadn't even been aware that there was an empty apartment on the third floor.

Roxas motioned farther down the corridor. "We're just going to be down the hall."

"Thanks for the early introduction, then." quipped Axel, trying not to smile as another flush came over Roxas. Riku, on the other hand, merely snorted and tucked his arm around Roxas's waist, choosing to ignore the subtle joke.

"No problem. We'll see you around, then?"

Axel leaned against the doorframe, meeting Riku's gaze evenly. "Sure. Why not?"

"It was good to meet you, Axel." Roxas waved briefly before he was led away by his boyfriend and the two walked away, engaging quickly into their own, quiet conversation. Axel remained in his doorway, watching as the pair disappeared into their own room. The image of a pair of bright, aqua eyes and the innocent smile were still trapped in his mind's eyes and left a dazed look on his face.

But the slam of a distant door made him twitch back into reality.

"Possessive bastard." He finally sighed, frowning slightly. Axel had not failed to notice the warning look in Riku's eyes, just before he had walked away. Something like "touch my man and you're dead." Subtle, but effective. He must've really been staring at Roxas a touch too long for comfort.

"Who, Riku?" Reno was back to curling up on Axel's shoulder. "I don't like him. I really don't." He quickly bared his tiny, sharp teeth. "Let's kill him."

With a roll of his eyes, Axel retreated back into the apartment and shut the door. He took a moment to gaze around the empty room, silent but filled with the autumn sun. He tucked his thumbs into his jean pockets. "As tempting as that is, murder is still illegal in this country."

Reno remained perfectly balanced on Axel's shoulder as they made their way back to the work room where Axel's drawing desk was set up by the window. "As your muse, I think that such brilliant ideas have no right to be restricted by petty things such as legalities and laws."

"Says the imaginary ferret." Axel's eyes rolled in his sockets again. He sat back down, returning to the doldrums of trying to figure out how to particularly illustrate the expression on the dog. A puppy, really. But Roxas's smile filtered back into his head again, almost on command. That was inspiration enough to finish the sketch.

_With just one look, the Kingfisher sent shivers down his spine and vivid pictures across his imagination.

* * *

_

**Halcyon Day Two**

It seemed that the new neighbors were not going to settle in quietly.

Axel had not gotten much sleep the previous night. He had been haunted with images of birds who had deep blue eyes. And every single time Axel had tried to reach out to one, the creature would chirp and hop away, eventually taking flight to leave the red-head alone in a plain of darkness. That is, until a huge tempest waves finally rose from the black, threatening to extinguish his flame.

Needless to say, the illustrator had awoken in the morning with a choked gasp, covered in cold sweat.

_BAM! _"… SHIT!"

And proceeded to fall out of bed as loud thumps and curses echoed all the way through his apartment through the thin walls.

Axel opened one eye cautiously, seeing his ceiling past the array of blankets that had tangled around him on the floor. He thought briefly of the dream, then shoved it into the back of his mind. He would worry about that later. Impatiently shoving away the blanket material, he began to rub the sleep out of one eye while trying to take in the sounds that were coming from out in the hallway. It was a curse of his that his bedroom had only a layer of cinder blocks and wallpaper to shelter him from the main corridor of the third floor.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" _THUD._

This was going to be one of those mornings. Axel could tell. Even if there was only about ten minutes left of morning for the day, Axel noted as he stood, glancing at the digital clock by his bed. And last time he checked, his alarm wasn't a loud bang and a stream of profanities. Impatiently shoving his bed-head into a pony-tail, the red-head hitched up his loose flannel pants afterward, taking the time to tug on a shirt, and headed out to investigate.

He bypassed the slumbering Reno by the entrance to his bedroom and instead went straight to the front door, unlocking it to poke his head out, still idly wondering what could possibly be going on so early (well, early for him) on a Wednesday.

At first, Axel couldn't completely comprehend what exactly it was that was wiggling in front of him. Granted, the wiggling thing had legs, so common sense supplied, after a few seconds, that it was someone's butt wobbling to and fro before him. And after even a bit more deliberation, it came to him that it was _Roxas_.

"Need any help there?"

"Ohshitfuck!"

There was a clatter as the blonde dropped the box he had been struggling with. Undoubtedly, it wasn't the first time. Which explained the noisy thuds from before. The cardboard container had held books that were now scattered across the hall. Axel immediately moved to help, crouching. Roxas flushed and began picking up the books well. "Shit, you don't have to do that."

"It's no problem." Axel starting stacking the books back into the box as he tipped his head in intrigue. Roxas, the innocent boyfriend? He had been the one with the mouth fit to shame a sailor?

"You woke me up, anyway. Roxas, right?"

"That's me." The blonde sighed, glancing up briefly at Axel. The red-head was treated to yet another spine-tingling shock of azure eyes and almost missed what Roxas said next.

"And you're Axel."

"I'm Axel." He nodded affirmatively, picking up a picture book with a reassuring smile, only to see his work and illustrations being flashed back at him from the cover. "Huh. You read Sora Hazuru's stuff?"

Roxas looked curiously at the volume in Axel's hands. "Which one is that? Oh yeah. I love his books." The blonde continued to pick up his possessions. "I love how he's got this unique thing where he has illustrations for some of the bigger scenes. Not many authors do that anymore."

The red-head stared down at the cover of a book a moment longer before deciding to test the waters. He couldn't help himself, he had a weakness for praise. "So, uh, you like the illustrations?"

"Well, yeah." Roxas blinked in surprise, piling the last box-set back into his container. "They're amazing! It's a like a mix of water colors and just light sketching and they're really well done. Why?"

"No reason." Axel handed the book to the blonde, who took it and, instead of packing it in with the rest of his collection, opened it.

"I think this is my favorites. Second volume, y'know." Roxas began flicking through the pages as Axel watched with a blank expression, catching a glimpse of familiar images every so often. "Have you read Hazuru's books?"

"Um… some." Axel answered casually, watching Roxas's face as his eyes flicked across the pages of the book. He was beautiful. The illustrator hadn't had a chance to notice it yesterday, but now he noticed. He most definitely noticed. In fact, it was unavoidable. Roxas's long eyelashes stood out too much, his lips were too pink and soft, his eyes too blue. His skin looked much too soft to be real, and his blonde hair shone like gold, even under the cheap lights of the hallway.

He was perfect. Perfect but unattainable, thanks to that boyfriend of his.

And the epitome of perfection was also speaking and Axel wasn't even paying attention. _Fool!_

"Speaking of which, I never actually bothered to check who was the illustrator…" Roxas proceeded to flick to the back of the cover, where the credits were always printed. His lower lip slipped beneath his front teeth as he chewed at the delicate skin. A bad habit, Axel supposed, caught in rapture with the image of the white teeth nipping at the chapped lip.

_Damnit, snap out of it!_

"Axel Kohler. Damn, Axel must be a more popular name than I thought! That's two Axel's I know now." laughed the blonde, finally standing and tossing the book in with the rest in the box. "Anyway, thanks for your help."

"Eh, it's nothing." Axel barely managed a smile, rising to his feet as well. Without even asking, the red-head doubled over to pick up the heavy box. "Let's get this back to your room."

"I feel bad." Roxas smirked, not bothering to complain and instead starting to walk back to his own apartment.

"Why's that?"

"Well, I don't even know you a day and I'm already making you do shit for me."

Axel chuckled at that, shifting the box into a more comfortable position in his grip. "I'm just too nice. Here I thought you were the innocent little blonde, and the next thing I know, you're riling up a vulgar little storm right outside my apartment."

That made Roxas laugh harder than his light chuckles from before. Axel smiled to himself at the pleasant sound. He hoped to hear that more often.

"You obviously got the wrong expression. Which is mostly Riku's fault, he can be a little too protective sometimes. But I can handle myself perfectly. I'm not a girl or anything."

Axel nudged Roxas's shoulder with his in a tease. "Except when it comes to carrying heavy boxes."

The red-head received a grin for his trouble. "There are always exceptions. I'm not big on hefting stuff around." He slowed his walk. They had arrived at Roxas and Riku's apartment. "That's why Riku was supposed to be the one to do the heavier boxes. But he got called into work for some reason."

"Oh?" Axel watched as Roxas tugged out his key. "Where does he work?"

He asked merely to continue the conversation, not out of curiosity's sake. Riku could have worked in a garbage dump, for all he cared. In fact, he hoped he did. Maybe Roxas would be turned off by his odor over time and he'd dump him.

"He's got this internship at a modeling agency."

Axel's heart proceeded to drop into his stomach and sizzle in the digestive acid. Model? Axel had no chance. Crazy illustrators didn't even compare to models. Swallowing the bile that was probably a result of his thoroughly broken-down heart, the illustrator spoke, "Oh."

He had been planning on saying more than just "oh," but that was all he could manage. _Model? Seriously? Damn. _His now empty chest ached.

Roxas, oblivious to the deadly consequences his words had had on Axel, proceeded to open his front door and usher Axel inside. "It's not anything serious. He's just trying out for it. I think he's throwing his brains away. Seriously, that's four years of majoring in Biology that he's tossing in the garbage, and I'm the one who has to have an actual job, because he doesn't have time for one. Anyway, just set that down there with the other ones."

Axel walked carefully into the chaotically neat apartment room. It was mostly bare, but the multiple boxes on the floor made up for the lack of decoration. He placed the container of boxes by another one filled to the brim with newspaper wrapped dishes and porcelain. He straightened. "So where do you work?"

The blonde smiled shrewdly, propped up against the doorway as he looked down thoughtfully at the floor. "The local coffee shop. It's not minimum wage or anything, though. It's enough to get by. Granted, my parents bought us this apartment. As a kind of graduating present." Roxas's eyes grew foggy for just a moment and Axel saw the beginnings of the frown on the blonde's lips, but the moment passed and Roxas was already smiling again, looking up with a clear gaze.

"What about you, Axel? What do you do for a living?"

_I sit in my living room for days on end and draw pictures while talking to my muse ferret._

"Oh, I work at home." Axel shrugged nonchalantly, returning the smile. "Y'know, this and that. Nothing really specific."

Then came silence. The silence that Axel had feared from the very beginning, the one that always came with strangers. You would run out of things to say because the conversation had dug itself into an uninteresting little hole. He wanted to talk more to Roxas, get to know him better, maybe find out the name of the café where he worked or something. But the time for bonding was over.

And damnit, he still hadn't had breakfast. Good thing he had his heart stewing in his belly.

Axel cleared his throat, scratching a few fingers over his messy red spikes. "I should probably get going. You don't need any more of my help or anything?"

_Please say yes. Say yes, say yes._

"No." Roxas pushed himself away from the doorframe to hold the door open for the red-head. "That's it. Thanks for your help, though."

"You're welcome." Resigned, Axel pulled himself out of his disappointment and chuckled, moving forward to walk out of the room. "Anyway, I'll see you around, yeah?"

Roxas stopped him just as he was about to pass by. He had reached out his hand, wrapping his fingers lightly over Axel's upper bicep. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

Axel only stared, startled and somewhat paralyzed from the pads of the fingertips that were eliciting little shocks of electricity through his skin. Roxas took his silence correctly for confusion and elaborated.

"It's just that… I'm not working tomorrow and I'm a little new in this neighborhood, so I was wondering if maybe you could show me around? I mean, if it's good for you."

Axel didn't know what made him do it. He honestly didn't. But before could even comprehend it, his big, dumbass mouth was opening and he was speaking words that he would punch himself for much later in the day. "I might be a little busy tomorrow, actually."

Roxas's hand immediately fell from Axel's arm. He didn't look disappointed, but his front lips darted out to snatch onto his bottom lip anyway. "Oh. Um. Ok, sorry. I was probably imposing it on you, anyway. Maybe sometime later, then?"

The red-head pulled himself together with a silent curse, already feeling an empty space filter over his arm where Roxas had touched him. It was so obvious that he was still somewhat sleepy, the way he was blundering this. He would have made the first move any other time. "How about you come stop by tomorrow, anyway? I might be able to spare an hour or two."

"Sure." Roxas shrugged, lips tilting up again. "Any specific time?"

"Whenever is good for you, as long as it's after 12:00." Axel moved to stand outside in the corridor and Roxas shifted to fill the doorway. They stared at each other and Axel suddenly wished that he was wearing something actually appealing, rather than his pajamas. "I usually don't wake up before then."

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow, then?"

Axel took a step back, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Alright. See ya."

Roxas smiled one last time, waving goodbye, before immediately shutting the door and solidifying the wall between himself and Axel.

He had smiled at him. Axel grinned stupidly as his digested heart speedily solidified and flew back up into his chest. One of his hands slowly came up to rub the spot where he could still imagine a shadow of Roxas's fingers.

Axel didn't remember what he did the rest of that day.

_With just one touch, the Kingfisher eased the winds, settled the waves, and spread tranquility.

* * *

_

**Halcyon Day Three, The Beginning**

"You should have told me that you were Axel Kohler!" Roxas said, playfully angry as he was led into Axel's living room. His eyes were swiveling in their sockets. "Although I probably could have figured that out without Wikipedia if I had seen this yesterday."

It was 2:30. And Roxas had arrived. Unfortunately, he had also caught Axel off guard, because the red-head had been in the process of a brain surge, doodling out a working image of the main character of Sora's book that was still in the works. Axel had first been about to disregard the knocks completely, Roxas's visit not coming to mind, but when the blonde started screaming "Axel, I know your deepest secret!", the illustrator realized with a start who exactly it was that was smashing down his door and had hurried to let his neighbor in.

Axel found himself standing in his living room while Roxas wandered from one framed painting to another, taking in some of the red-head's favorite works that he had taken from Sora's books, blown them up, and hung them on his walls.

He might as well have put a sign that said "HELLO, AXEL KOHLER, ILLUSTRATOR FOR SORA HAZURU IN THE HOUSE!"

Preferably with flashing lights and neon accents.

"So are you busy?" Roxas stopped by the couch, Axel's second bed, and motioned with his head to the writing desk in the adjoining room where Axel had been in full force only minutes before.

"Um…" Axel sighed, wishing that he could just drop his work and go with Roxas, but he had a deadline in four days and if he didn't meet it, Sora would be pissy. "I actually am. A little."

Reno spoke up from the couch, only a meter or so away from Roxas. "Oh, please. The only thing you're busy with is jerking off to Roxas."

Axel's eye twitched. The damnable ferret had the worst timing to show up and start sticking in his bothersome comments. Taking in a deep breath to keep himself from punting the crimson animal out of the apartment, Axel merely scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. "I was just having a rare brain surge, that's all."

"Oh!" Roxas's eyes went from being marginally disappointed to widened with… could that be excitement? "Could you maybe show me a little of your work? Or is that not allowed?"

"No, I guess I can show you some of my stuff." Axel replied hesitantly, glancing at Reno once before leading the way to his drawing table, snatching an extra bench on the way for the blonde to sit on. The red-head rolled his eyes as he heard Reno laugh and follow after them.

"Yeah, I know what you want to show him."

Biting back a snappish response to the pesky muse, Axel sat down, Roxas soon following afterwards. "I don't have much actually done yet…"

But Roxas was too busy drinking in the partially sketched and painted illustrations. One was of an otter, fur sleek and body streamlined as he propelled himself along a riverbed. The next one depicted a pair of mice, crouched beneath the foliage of a bush, their faces etched with worry and fear. Axel smiled to himself as he watched Roxas, but his eyes eventually wandered to a small doodle he had done on a scrap.

Any logical person would not have left doodles of Roxas lying around in the open, but Axel's brain obviously wasn't functioning properly. Wincing, the red-head offhandedly stretched his hand over the desk, covering the paper with his hand and folding his fingers inward toward his palm, simultaneously crushing the paper inside his fist. Roxas didn't notice, already sifting through more of Axel's works-in-progress.

"I like this one." The blonde eventually pointed out a painting of a ferret. It wasn't even for Sora, it had been something that Axel had completed on a whim. A spitting image of Reno, but Roxas didn't need to know that. He didn't need to know about Axel's unique little habits. Not at all. Casting Reno a warning glare, Axel stood.

"You can keep it."

Roxas frowned. "I can't take this. Isn't it for Hazuru's books?"

Reno hopped onto the seat Axel had just vacated. "Oh, is that me in my sexy goodness?"

"Not that one, no. Besides, if I miss it, I'll just paint another one." Axel shook his head as Roxas tried to hand back the painting. "Consider it my welcoming present for you and Riku."

Reno immediately protested, angrily flailing his body. "Like hell, for Riku! If you're going to be giving away my jaw-droppingly hot images to people, give them away to people I actually like."

Axel paid the ferret no mind. And Roxas, of course, didn't hear a thing. The blonde looked down at the work. "Thanks. Heh, I guess you were right, you really are too nice."

"Oh, kid, you should see how nice he _can _get." Reno immediately changed attitudes, going back to commentary.

"See? You need to believe me more often." Axel's laugh came out more forced than usual as he flashed his muse another threatening glower over Roxas's shoulder. Luckily, the blonde had chosen to look back at the painting at that exact moment.

"I guess so." Roxas chuckled himself, shaking his head suddenly and looking back up exactly as Axel calmed his features again. "I always wanted to know, where do you get your inspiration for all this stuff? I mean, really. I've never seen anyone else with the same style as you."

"It's all me, baby. All Reno, doing his muse thing."

Axel coughed. "Some of it comes to me. Other times, when my muse isn't being an ass, he helps, too."

"Your muse, huh?"

"Yeah." Axel pointed at the painting with a grin. "That's him right there."

"I look sexy!"

"I've never heard of people having ferret muses." Roxas tiled his head, searching Axel's face to see if he was joking or not. Axel tried to keep smiling, but was finding it more and more difficult when he saw that Reno had disappeared from the chair. _Where is he?!_

"People have told me I'm unique before." Axel replied, trying not to panic. Reno had disappeared when Axel had had company over before. The last time, the red-head had been forced to remain stock-still as his muse crawled over the landlady's hair while singing "Singing in the Rain" to himself. This wasn't good. Not at all. _Damnit, Reno! You're an imaginary ferret, you're not allowed to do this shit to me! You're supposed to do ferrety thing and help me with my paintings!_

"Well, with hair and tattoos likes that, you certainly stand out, even in appearance, let alone mentally." Roxas noted curiously, gaze going up to Axel's spiky red hair. "Is that natural?"

"Hmm?" Axel's palms grew sweaty as he already began to imagine how this could end if Reno went too far. "My hair? No. It's actually dyed. Permanently, but you can just see the black roots beneath all that fire-engine red."

"I was wondering about that." Roxas suddenly laughed, leaning in to inspect for himself the situation with Axel's dye-job. The faux red-head's breath caught in his throat as the blonde closed the distance between them. He noted vaguely that he was a head taller than Roxas.

As his own green eyes searched his neighbor's face, Axel realized that Roxas's eyes weren't just blue. They were oceans of cobalt with tiny flashes of deep indigo circling around the iris.

And as Axel's eyes traveled down the blonde's cute nose and his pouty lips, his stare continued to drop just to see Reno clambering up Roxas's jeans.

"I wanna see his penis!"

Those five words were the end of it. Axel's control snapped. He choked, eyes bulging out of his head as he grabbed Roxas's shoulders and shoved him away from himself. "Don't you dare go in his pants!"

The blonde stumbled backwards, numb to the sensations of a critter attempting to make his way down his trousers. "What?"

"I want to see it!" Reno replied angrily, scrambling away as Axel swatted at him. He fled around Roxas's hip to try and clamber from the blonde's bottom to his back. But Axel tactlessly continued to try and smack his muse off of his neighbor.

"No! Damnit, get the hell off of him!" Axel spun around Roxas to keep up with the ferret. Target in sight, he swung his hand out in anger to hit Reno.

The smack of a hand connecting with the flesh of Roxas's ass echoed throughout the apartment. Roxas remained frozen in place, his eyes expanding to reveal his horror, while Axel barely even registered anything. It didn't even matter. He had missed. Reno flew to the floor in an attempt to escape.

"Get away from me!"

"You are _so dead_, you mangy ferret!" howled Axel, dashing away to give chase.

Leaving Roxas alone with a sore ass and a mystified expression. He could only watch as Axel sprinted from one side of the apartment to the other, arguing loudly with himself whilst clambering over the couch and under the table as he chased after… well, something.

"You went too far, you hunk of useless fur!"

_"I was just a little curious! He wouldn't have felt anything, anyway!"_

"That's not the point, I won't have you molesting people in my house!"

_"Well, sorry that I'm invading your property! I didn't know his cock had your name on it!"_

"Say that again, Reno! I fucking dare you!"

_"I didn't know his cock had your name on it!"_

"I WILL BURN YOU ALIVE, FERRET! YOU HEAR ME?"

Unfortunately, Roxas heard only Axel's ravings, and as the argument increased both in volume and threats, he couldn't help but feel that he was missing something here. Shifting the painting to one hand, he gingerly rubbed his bottom as he witnessed Axel's attempt to push his whole body under the couch to reach something.

"Um… Axel?"

"BURN!" Axel scrambled from the floor to grab a lamp and begin his chase again.

"Axel?"

"Get back here!" Axel came to a stop right at a closed door, at which he, infuriated, chucked the lamp. It thudded into the wood and exploded into a multiple pieces of glass. Chest heaving, the red-head stared at the broken lamp, eyes livid.

"Axel, I think I'm gonna get going now."

Axel instantly froze in place, a look of horror crossing over his features. If Roxas hadn't been so bewildered and rather disturbed, he would have thought it funny.

"Uh, uh… about that, Roxas…"

"I'll talk to you later." The blonde gave Axel one last stare before turning on his heel and hurrying out to the front door. He grappled briefly with the doorknob, but, finally, he turned it and scurried out. Axel twisted around just in time to see the blonde's retreating back and… a bird.

_"You really need to be more careful, you know."_

Axel frowned as the yellow, white, and blue creature hovered briefly in his doorway, giving him a pitying look before flicking its wings and sailing after Roxas. The door finally snapped shut of its own accord.

A certain ferret chose to re-enter the living room at that point, but whatever he said went in one of Axel's ear and immediately exited through the other one.

"Reno…" Axel spoke slowly, for fear of making a mistake. He never tore his eyes away from the door that had just shut. "When did we meet Roxas? Three days ago, right?"

The ferret sniffed thoughtfully, not catching on to Axel's growing excitement as he fearfully approached. "I'd say so, yeah."

All of the anger and fury and bundles of mixed emotions flushed out of the red-head's system, leaving a blank, nervous little lump. Axel swallowed, hands shaking as he brushed his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit of his. "I think I found my Kingfisher."

That got Reno's attention. He immediately stiffened, bead eyes marginally widening as much as they could. "Really?"

"Really." Axel moved away to look out the window, brow creasing. The view of the autumn weather outside, murky and dark, did nothing to soothe his nerves.

He was almost certain. Almost. But Axel had been wrong before. In the 25 years that he had spent on earth, he had made so many mistakes. More than the average man, certainly. His life was just chockfull of wrong decisions, incorrect answers, and responses that were too early or too late. He had even thought, a year beforehand, that he had found his true kingfisher then. But Sora hadn't been the one. Considering the fact that he had ended up in the hospital the day after the two had met, that was proof enough that the brunette had not carried fourteen days of tranquility for Axel.

But he had just _seen it! _Roxas was the one! He was positive! Well, roughly positive. Kinda. Axel groaned to himself, moving to collapse onto the couch and shove a pillow over his face. He continued to speak though the material. "Since he's moved in, I've been able to just draw whatever came to mind. I've been at peace. Things have been moving smoothly than before. You notice, we haven't fought at all in the past three days. Until five minutes ago, but regardless."

"Yes, but c'mon, Axel." Reno slithered up onto the sofa and further up onto Axel's stomach. It seemed that for now, their argument was forgotten. "That's just a myth. Fourteen days of calm and tranquility and shit don't actually happen. And they're brought on by birds. And Roxas isn't a bird."

"His muse is a Kingfisher." Axel replied softly, opening his eyes to look into the pillow that was still pressed over his face. He could see the bird in his mind clearly, including the long beak, the tuft of feathers on its head, the light blue and yellow of the feathers themselves, the white belts along its body. A belted kingfisher.

"I saw it."

Reno perked up again. Axel could feel his tiny claws digging into his shirt and getting caught in the material. "You saw his muse?"

"Yeah." The red-head tugged off the cushion to see Reno sitting on his chest, looking curious. "Is that not a good thing?"

"I dunno, kid, you might be on to something. Usually, with those who don't acknowledge their muses in some form like you did with me, don't have visible muses. That's why you haven't seen any other little animals scampering about and talking to their subjects."

Axel raised an eyebrow of surprise. "Why haven't you told me this before?"

"It never came up."

Reno rolled off of Axel's chest as the red-head sat up. "In any case, that's proof enough that Roxas is my Kingfisher. And that means that three of my fourteen halcyon days have gone by."

"And what an unfortunate thing that you just scared him off." Reno noted, tail wiggling.

"What do you mean,_ I_ scared him off!?" Axel shrieked. The aforementioned argument thus began.

_With just one word, the Kingfisher shifted the storms and awoke the slumbering sun to spread its rays of joy.

* * *

_

**Halcyon Day Four**

Axel was always a fan of the olden times. Not Civil War, French Revolution times. More like Greek and Roman times. He had been particularly attracted to one certain legend. About the Kingfisher, Alcyone, and the halcyon days.

In short, the Kingfisher was a small bird that built its nests on the ocean's surface or on the beach. According to legend, the bird brought on exactly fourteen days of peaceful water and calm, taming the ocean and the winds, for its nesting season. And afterwards, the winter would begin.

Myths were myths. There was no doubt about that. But muses were also muses, and not solid ferrets trying to sneak out people's pants. The halcyon days had attracted Axel and stuck in his mind ever since, only fueling the fire for his final, big, very important goal.

The ultimate Halcyon day. Which also had to be on a Saturday, because that was Axel's favorite day of the week.

And to get to that, Axel would need his Kingfisher. And all evidence pointed to Roxas.

Unfortunately, his Kingfisher had probably been scarred for life and would never make contact with Axel ever again. And that, in itself, was problematic.

"I can't draw anymore." Axel said bluntly, throwing a pillow over his head for the second time in two days as he threw himself onto the couch. Life, as he knew it, was over. "Roxas thinks that I'm out of my mind, his boyfriend is probably after my head at this point, my deadline for Sora is in three days, I only have ten halcyon days left, only two of them being Saturdays, and my muse is a fucking perverted ferret."

The truth had obviously hit home the next day after the entire fiasco with Roxas's pants and Reno. And it hit rather hard.

"I wish I was a fucking ferret," grumbled Reno from the top of the couch. "I don't fuck anything. Can't you conjure me up some hot ferret chicks?"

Axel ignored him. "I might as well just give up now. This is hopeless."

"Hey, c'mon…" As his muse, Reno had the obligation of cheering Axel up. And now was the exact time to do it. "We still have time. Who knows, he might come back."

"Reno, I chased you around the room right in front of him. I _slapped_ his ass."

"… true."

The pair fell into silence, staring off into space.

Then, there came a series of taps at the door. There was a faint flutter of wings and a clacking. A nice change from the thuds and thumps, but curious, nevertheless. A soft voice proceeded to speak.

"I wouldn't give up just yet, you two. No matter how hopeless you are."

_With just a flick of her wings, the Kingfisher planted the seeds of a new life.

* * *

_

Blue Funk decided to bite off a little more than she could chew. Sadly, she bit off some loopy bread and this was the result.

What is this, RikuRoku? What? Barrel roll? Cake is a lie? Sparta?

I realize that I have a lot on my plate and adding another multi-chapter-- yes, multi-chapter, you heard it right -- is the last thing I need. But I couldn't help myself. I wrote this more for pure enjoyment than anything, because it's been sitting in my mind for months now. It should be under 10 chapters. Some of you may be confused… but all will be clear later. xD So we'll see. And yes, I realize that I still need to update SINthetic, reply to reviews, etc. And I'll get to that. Eventually.

Many thanks to Wikipedia for the halcyon days info.

Lemme know what you guys think. Review! :3


	2. The Legend

_Chapter Two - "The Legend"_

* * *

**Halcyon Day Four, Cont'd**

"I wouldn't give up just yet, you two. No matter how hopeless you are."

Axel and Reno looked up simultaneously towards the front door, heads snapping to attention. The clicks and scrapes against the door continued. Axel was the first to move, jumping from the couch to the entrance and opening it. For someone who had spent most of the afternoon moping about in a comatose state, the red-head moved surprisingly fast. His reaction speed, however, came to a stuttering halt at the unexpected visitor.

The kingfisher from before fluttered before him, still radiant in her blue, yellow, and white feathers. All Axel could do was stare.

There was a slam of a door far off at the other end of the corridor, but Axel's eyes were too riveted to the object of his dreams before him to even notice.

"Um… you…" He muttered, hands tightening around the doorknob. Cautiously, he reached out a hand to check that the creature wasn't a hallucination, which was a possibility that he surely would not have put past himself, but the bird only alighted onto his finger, wings folding to rest.

"Me?" The bird replied innocently, beak almost curved into a smile. It was definitely a female bird, judging from her voice. The creature's bright and unnatural feathers surprised Axel, but considering Reno's own bizarre fur color, it was probably only to be expected. Muses didn't have to fit in to the regular rules of the animal kingdom.

"You're a kingfisher."

"And you're perceptive." replied the muse with an audible chirp that sounded distinctly like a laugh. Her warm, beaded eyes looked up at the red-head. "My name is Naminè."

"Naminè…" Axel said slowly, brain still not functioning. His eyes barely moved in their sockets, looking the bird over as if she was made from shining gold. "And you're-"

"I'm Roxas's muse, yes." She flicked her tail briefly. "And I don't have much time, because he just left, so let me just tell you this, Axel Kohler."

Reno managed to sneak up over Axel's shoulder at that moment, but wisely remained silent. Naminè glanced up at the ferret briefly before speaking again. "You haven't completely scared Roxas away, but I warn you to be careful in the future or he'll completely avoid you. His open-mindedness only stretches so far, and I know how much you need him."

"I'm surprised he hasn't already called for the loony bin." Reno abruptly sniggered, tail waggling in amusement.

"He doesn't think I'm completely insane? I still have a chance for my Halcyon Days?" Axel completely disregarded his muse, as always, blinking instead in disbelief, hardly able to take the information all in, or the presence of Naminè herself. It was too good to be true.

Naminè clicked her beak. "Yes, but he's confused, so you can't just go rushing into this. Roxas isn't _just_ your ticket to those fourteen days of peace. And neither am I."

Reno finally spoke. Leaning his long nose over Axel's shoulder, he sniffed inquisitively at the kingfisher. "So can he see you? You probably know as well as I do that we shouldn't even be having this conversation."

"He hasn't acknowledged me…" Naminè looked back to the red ferret. "… yet. It's a little complicated, really."

Axel was still flummoxed. He looked to the two muses, then focused on the bird. "So what do you want me to do? I mean, I know I believed in the myth, but I didn't actually expect a kingfisher. I thought it was more symbolic."

The bird ruffled her feathers, twittering in laughter again. "That's because you haven't found the right one yet, until now."

"But how do you even know about this? Why? I just… this is too convenient." concluded Axel dully, frowning slightly now as his previous elation dimmed. "And what am I supposed to do about Riku? The possessive bastard'll flay me alive if he sees me going after Roxas. Why are you even helping me?"

"Perceptive, but suspicious, I see. Don't worry about it. Just keep at what you're doing, don't stress too much. Tomorrow's Saturday, right? Your first Halcyon Day attempt." Naminè hopped from Axel's hand to his arm. "You'll be fine. Everything will sort itself out eventually. Or, if you want to be specific, ten days."

Reno snorted. "You sound confident about this."

"I have faith in you." replied the bird cheerily. "It's been pulled off once, you can do it again, I think. Just… with better results."

Before Axel could even begin to form a question, the bird flitted away from him, taking flight. "Good luck, _Ceyx_!"

A single feather, bright blue, fell from her tail as Naminè soared away down the hall, quickly disappearing, leaving the red-head and his ferret to follow the descent of the single feather down to the floor, where it gently settled on an envelope that Axel hadn't noticed before.

"Well, like muse, like owner. Both only seem to leave confusion behind them." Reno commented airily as Axel bent over to snatch up the mysterious letter, as well as the feather. "Why'd she call you Ceyx, anyway?"

A startling change had come over the illustrator. Axel held his tongue, a strange, glazed look in his eye as he moved slowly, stepping back into his apartment and shutting the door behind him. The silence was so uncharacteristic of the man that Reno grew worried. Nudging his nose into the man's ear, he released a soft growl.

"What? What's wrong?"

"One second." His steps jerky and slow, Axel finally made it to his beloved couch and sat down, limbs still stiff and eyes oddly frozen. His fingers mechanically skimmed over the envelope, prying open the edges and eventually managing to tug out the letter that was tucked inside. He set aside the envelope with the feather to the side as Reno scampered down to sit the man's lap. Without shaky fingers, Axel unfolded the note. Still, no word of confirmation on anything escaped the red-head's mouth.

In silence, the pair read the letter which, as it so happened, was from Roxas. The handwriting was jerky and appeared to have been written quite quickly, but Axel liked the style. It was quite unlike Sora's neat, tiny handwriting. Axel eyes flicked quickly over the words that spoke of Roxas wishing to meet up again later and not to worry about the fiasco from the previous day. At the end was a scribbled address of the café where Roxas worked and a post script suggesting that Axel visit him soon there, if he wanted.

As soon as the two were done, Axel folded up the letter again and sat back to stare at the opposite wall, features blank. Reno scuffled down to sniff briefly at the letter, then spoke.

"That was certainly something. At least that confirmed what Naminè said. He doesn't think you're crazy."

"Yes. At least there's that." mumbled Axel, the tips of his lips beginning to slide toward his chin. "Even after that shit we pulled yesterday, he seems to be willing to give me a second chance."

"So what's the problem? He likes you!"

Axel suddenly let out a sigh of frustration, leaning down to bury his hands in his hair. "That's _exactly_ the problem!"

"Ok, you've lost me." The ferret hopped to rest on the couch instead, giving Axel more room to angst. "I thought you wanted Roxas. You were the one who was just whining this morning about how you would never be able to talk to blondie again."

"This morning was different. This morning, I didn't think that kingfishers would be turning up at my door and making this whole situation related to Greek mythology."

"But I thought the whole Halcyon Days bit _was_ related to Greek mythology?"

Axel only tugged at his hair harder, "_Yes, _but... but…" The red-head ended his sentence with an aggravated growl, crumpling the letter in his fist. He stared down gloomily at the paper, then quickly reconsidered and gingerly smoothed it out again, eyes lovingly skimming over the adorable handwriting and the blonde's signature at the bottom.

Reno only stared at the other's odd behavior. "Ok, I know I'm your muse and everything, but I don't speak Grunt. You're gonna have to expand on this subject a little."

The man forced himself to take a deep breath, then sat back against the cushions of the sofa. "Alright. You know the whole Halcyon Days myth. The one about the kingfisher that brings about 14 days of calm seas so that she can build her nest."

"Obviously. It's pretty much your life story." Reno flicked his tail, a motion for him to continue.

"Well, there's another myth behind the Halcyon Days. About Alcyone and Ceyx." Talking seemed to help the illustrator; his limbs were already beginning to relax.

"They were a married couple who, for the most part, lived a happy life and loved each other and all that nonsense. But they eventually started calling each other "Hera" and "Zeus," which angered the big man himself, 'cause it was a bit blasphemous. So when Ceyx went out sailing, Zeus killed him by throwing a thunderbolt at him. Ceyx never returned, but he appeared to his wife in an apparition to tell her of his fate. Alcyone, in her grief, flung herself into the sea and killed herself."

"Bummer." Reno said as Axel paused for breath.

"Yeah, pretty much. In the end, though, the other gods changed the two into halcyon birds, kingfishers, out of compassion."

"And Naminè calling you Ceyx is bad because…"

"Because according to the myth, those two ending up dying!" Axel threw up his arms. "That's why! And knowing my luck, that's probably what'll end up happening if I go after Roxas! We'll fall in love, and then Riku will kill us both or something!"

Reno tilted his head in thought as Axel stood up and began pacing, letter still in hand. "Y'know, I can see how that's a bit of a problem. But, I mean, your own situation's so different compared to the myth. And you _like_ Roxas! He's cute, he's smart, and he seems to respect you, at least. Are you going to let some old, dead people keep you away from that?"

"But he's _taken_, and considering the circumstances right now, what with the beginning of the 14 days, Naminè, and this just whole…" Lacking the right world, Axel simply gestured around the whole thing. "Whole _thing! _Things won't end well. Naminè probably wants me to go after him and, y'know, fall in love, happy ending, then we can end up dying and living on as birds or something. That's what she was talking about, when she mentioned how this had been done before, and that we could probably do it with different results."

"Yeah, she doesn't think you two will die at the end, either. Axel, I do think you're overreacting a lit-"

"No!" Axel waved the letter at Reno angrily, voice level quickly rising as his eyes began popping out of his head in distress. "I am not overreacting! I am looking at this from a logical point of view! For one, I can't technically go chasing after Roxas because he's not available."

"A valid, but easily dismissible point."

"Second, we have absolutely no proof that Roxas is willing to return my feelings!"

"I think Naminè's talk with us, as well as the letter, is proof enough that with a little persuasion, he'll be more than willing." Once again, Reno had the perfect reply.

"Thirdly…" Axel suddenly stopped and sighed, looking down at the letter. "I just want my Halcyon Days. That's all. That's all I ever wanted out of this. I always thought that they'd come about just through friendship or something. I mean, when I was stalking after Sora, I wasn't falling in love with him, I just kinda wanted him to rub off on me."

"Roxas is different, that much is obvious already." The ferret's ears stiffened suddenly with a dawning realization. "Damn, I think I might be rooting for you two already."

Axel pointed a threatening finger at his muse. "Don't even start! We're not going there. We're _not_. I'm keeping this relationship completely clean and as soon as my fourteen days are over, I'll leave him alone."

However, Reno's patience was steadily wearing thin. "Look, Axel." The ferret bounded from the couch to scamper up to the red-head's shoulder. "I know you. I'm your muse, we're connected. You're scared of hurting the kid and putting him through more trouble than he deserves."

Axel raised an eyebrow at the sudden comforting words. "Yes, but…"

"But I think Naminè's right. For all you know, maybe you can avoid angering the gods or whatever and just get a happy ending."

The idea was tempting. Tempting, but the ending result was impossible, anyway. Axel shook his head and tossed the letter to the nearby coffee table. "This is reality, and I'm not the kind of person to get happy endings. I've already decided. Just Halcyon Days. Nothing else."

The ferret visibly slumped. "You give up too easily."

Axel shrugged, a small, but bitter smile curving his lips. "It's the easy way out. Something I learned years ago."

With a last dismissive glance at the letter, Axel left the room. The single feather from Naminè's tail that remained on top of the discarded envelope slowly faded away in the empty room.

_Axel-_

_So I'm going to assume that yesterday was just your way of saying hello? Heh, in any case, no hard feelings about that. We should hang out, preferably somewhere outside our apartments. I know that sliding a letter underneath your door is a little cliché, but I was actually ridiculously late to work and had no time to wake you up (It's before 12:00, right?)._

_In any case, maybe you can stop by my coffee shop sometime? It's called Twilight Café and pretty hard to miss. Who knows, maybe I'll even give you a discount._

_-Roxas_

_P.S. I'm working from noon to close for the next few days. Just a hint._

* * *

**Halcyon Day Five, Saturday**

"RISE AND SHINE, LOVELY, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!"

Axel grunted and rolled over. Reno continued to bounce over his head, tail wagging furiously. The ferret was acting as an alarm clock today, which the illustrator did not approve of.

"Alright, let me be more specific. It's a beautiful _Saturday_ morning, and the bright, cheery sun outside is reminding you that there just might be a chance that this is your big Halcyon Day!"

That certainly got the red-head's attention. His eyes sluggishly opened to let in the sunlight that his room was flooded in.

"… wh'timesit?" Axel mumbled, smothering his face in his pillow. The ferret still did not desist in bouncing.

"Five minutes to noon, Axel! I figured that you should get a nice early start to this wonderful day!"

The cheeriness of the muse only stung the illustrator, who had never been a morning person. Still, the coaxing warm sun and the prospect of a Halcyon Day was enough incentive for the man to finally, ten minutes later, crawl out of bed after shoving Reno under the pillow to shut up him.

Axel proceeded to skip breakfast after an invigorating shower, settling for a warm mug of tea as he wandered about the apartment, getting ready. Reno followed excitedly after him, whining for him to hurry up as the red-head tugged on slacks and a shirt, feet still bare as they skirted over the soft, cream colored carpet of the apartment.

"You're taking too long! C'mon, let's go! You need to get out there, do your thing!"

Axel calmly took a sip of his hot drink, not allowing himself to be hurried. He chose to ignore the strange fervor with which Reno was urging him on, hoping that it wasn't based off of the visit to Roxas's café that he would possibly be indulging in later that day.

"Yes, it is because you _are_ going to see Roxas today that I'm excited. In case you were wondering." Reno grinned in his ferrety way, scampering up the side of the sink to watch his partner attempt to tame his damp hair.

_Of course. Why'd I even bother hoping? _The red-head replied with only a snort, deciding on tying the hair back and nixing his contacts to slip on glasses instead. Complete with a loose scarf over his long-sleeve shirt, the overall arrangement proved satisfactory to the man after a long look-over in the full-length mirror hanging in the hall.

After all, if Axel was going to have a perfect day, he wanted to look _good_ and even Reno admitted that the man could pull of the artsy, stylish look.

Fully-dressed, Axel cradled the mug in his hands by the doorway as he shoved his phone, wallet, and other necessities into the pockets of his jeans. "Time?"

Reno flicked his tail from his perch on the table by the door. "Half-past noon."

"Excellent." Axel grinned, then took a deep breath. "Alright."

"I swear, this bizarre ritual you go through every Saturday worries me sometimes."

The red-head shrugged, glancing at his reflection one last time. Still perfect. He glanced back at the ferret with a smirk. "Weren't you the one rooting for me and Roxas? I need to look impressive if I'm going to win him over."

"That's right!" Reno nearly fell from the table in surprise at his own blunder. "Good! I see you've dropped the denial. Don't you feel lighter already at admitting to your attraction?"

"Oh yes." Axel opened the door with a roll of his eyes. "Light as a feather. See you later tonight, then."

"Go get that blonde, then! And find me some ferret girlfriends!" Reno called after Axel, just as the door shut.

The red-head released a soft breath and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, setting off. _Alright._ _Time for another attempt at a Halcyon Day, kingfisher or not._

Unconsciously, his hand curled around the letter from Roxas that he had carefully folded and taken with him.

… _Hopefully._

* * *

Ahh, a plot emerges. This was shorter than expected. In fact, it's exactly half of what I had hoped to post up, but I'm running with a ton of things on my hands and time constraints to boot, and I wanted to update somehow. Especially with the unexpected swell of readers xD Mostly in thanks to MemorialFire from dA (who drew amazing fanart and I love her forever), but still. I'm rambling.

ARR and Special Discount next. Promise. In any case, I'm off to NYCC tomorrow, Saturday, to see T.M.Revolution and it's going to be full of awesome. xD

Don't forget to review!


	3. Fate's Pull

**Halcyon Days**

_Chapter 3 - "Fate's Pull"_

* * *

**Halcyon Day Five, cont'd**

Axel's halcyon day, beginning around 1:00 PM when he had finally stepped out of his apartment building and set off down the sidewalk, had a fairly good start. In fact, Axel was feeling damn good by the time he turned his steps towards Roxas's coffee shop much later that evening.

The red-head had decided to get most of his usual Saturday activities out of the way before visiting Twilight Café. Strolling along through the city, the illustrator stopped first at two of his favorite book shops to pick up a few of the newest best-sellers. A man had to keep up with the times, after all. He smiled when he noticed the 50 off sign by the novels, too.

However, Axel pointedly ignored the ads of Sora Hazuru's new book as he had moved through the store, unwilling to be reminded even more that he had a deadline to meet in two days.

Axel did follow a pattern for most of his Halcyon Days, even if he did switch up some of his activities. As per tradition, the red-head made his way through the nearby park afterwards, intent on cracking open some of his purchases and simply taking in the sunny day. It wasn't too hot or cold of windy; just right.

Flopping down on a bench by the fountain area, Axel settled in to read. And all would have been well. The red-head would have spent the next hour or so lounging in the sun, reading and relaxing and just enjoying himself in the peaceful silence. After that, maybe he would go for another walk, stop for some lunch…

"Oh my god, where'd you get that _hat_?"

… _stop for some lunch, possibly get some desert at that new cake shop…_

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Selphie!"

_And then, ah… right, after the cake shop, I'd…_

"No, you _have _to tell me, Olette!"

_Oh, god_damn_it it._

Axel frowned, glancing up from his page as he was distracted from his thoughts. A pair of teenage girls were steadily making their way towards him, skirting the main fountain and prattling on about a silly hat that one of them was sporting. They were both talking much too loudly and their voices were not only grating, in Axel's opinion, but they also reverberated throughout the whole park area.

"No way! _There_?! Really?"

"Way! Totally way! I told you that you wouldn't believe me!"

Axel inwardly cringed, willing them away with all the brain power he possessed as his hands curled up tighter around the edges of his book. He almost regretted Reno's absence, then; the ferret would have undoubtedly found a smart comment or two to throw at the oblivious girls for Axel's amusement.

The girls only got closer. Axel searched his brain for a way to maybe get them to go away faster but coming up short.

Luck was on his side. Just as the pair began to pass the red-head, a particularly strong gust of wind blew past them, rattling the trees, whipping Axel's scarf to the side and, more importantly, whisking the hat from the girl named Olette's head and carrying it off farther into the park. With cries of distress, Olette and Selphie took to their heels, running off and giving chase to the escaping hat.

Serene quiet settled back over the area. Axel smiled to himself as he buried his nose back into his book.

Halcyon day, indeed.

* * *

Thus, the evening found a cheery red-headed illustrator nearly skipping to Twilight Café. The sidewalks were crowded, but not overly so, and Axel had no trouble finding the coffee house. It was on the corner of 13th Street and pleasantly lit. Axel could see right through the wide windows; the café was only partially full but he couldn't spot Roxas. He paused.

For the first time that day, Axel felt his body clench together from nervousness. Anxiety began to creep through him. He stood by the door, fidgeting, fingers twitching as he felt himself being filled with second thoughts and unease. He and Roxas had parted on less than pleasant terms and even with the blond's letter, Axel wasn't entirely sure where they stood. Especially with Naminè's sudden involvement.

Axel couldn't help but suspect that entering the café would be a bad life choice. It would be uncomfortable and almost embarrassing. And that was only natural, after all, considering that the last time Axel had seen Roxas, he had slapped his _ass_ and went on to yell hysterically at an imaginary ferret that no one else could see.

What if the blond didn't really want to experience the pleasant surprise of seeing the red-head just show up without warning at his work? How would he react? Would he just ask him to leave? Or, even worse, would he demand an explanation for the fiasco from before? That would certainly be an interesting conversation.

Oh yeah. Awkward City. Population: Axel Kohler.

_Still_… Axel picked at his scarf, stepping back automatically as two customers exited the coffee house, _he _did_ write the letter. He invited me._ His free hand slipped into his pocket to clutch at Roxas's note.

_He hasn't pushed me away. I've been given another chance._

Axel couldn't imagine himself going home without seeing the blond, at most to explain himself for the previous day, at least to just say hi. So that was that. He was going in. Squaring his shoulders and double-checking his reflection in the window hurriedly, the red-head finally walked through the door.

The smell of coffee hit him first, and then the chatter of customers moved in to fill his ears. The café was even nicer inside. Not only were there little tables everywhere, but large, comfy-looking cushions set around by the walls, too, in case some preferred beans bags to chairs. Along the walls were different paintings, all depicting something involving coffee, and the lighting in the building was low, allowing most of place to be lit by the natural sun.

Axel was almost done doing a full circle in place to take in the shop and he was just beginning to suspect that Roxas wasn't actually working at that very moment when he actually spotted him. The red-head froze.

The blond was standing behind the counter, working cash register and taking orders. He had rolled up the sleeves on his white button up shirt but had allowed his hair to stay messy and fall about his face in uneven spikes. Smiling and talking animatedly, Roxas was in the process of going through a line of about three people while moving smoothly from the counter to the back where he actually prepared coffee. He had a professional but friendly look about him and Axel couldn't help but stare. And gulp nervously.

He looked _adorable_.

Digging out his wallet without actually taking his eyes off the blond, Axel went to join the line. He had no idea what he was going to say. So many years of being a hermit inside his apartment, simply drawing and avoiding the rest of the public that thought he was crazy had rendered the man a tad… socially inept. He could look the look and walk the walk, but alas, he could not talk the talk.

_Alright, it has to be cool, confident, smooth. I have to be the older, mature illustrator. I have to impress Roxas with my awesome. I'll just go up there and give him a little smirk and give my order. Yeah. That'll be good. _

One more customer had been served. Axel moved up a step but Roxas hadn't spotted him yet.

_But remember, I'm not flirting. I just want to be friends. Ok, maybe I'll just smile. A smirk is too suggestive. Damnit. Should I put my hands on the counter? Tuck them in my pocket? _

Axel's hands shook and now that he was closer, he noticed that Roxas's shirt had its two top buttons undone, revealing the blond's smooth, tan neck.

_Shit, ok, don't look there. Ok. Ok. I'm cool, I'm confident. I can handle this. I'll just go up there, smile and order. That's what I'll do._

One last person remained between him and Roxas. On the outside, Axel's features were neutral, but internally, the red-head's mind functions were being overloaded with well-hidden panic. For some reason, before, when he had been meeting Sora, they had fallen easily into friendship and Axel hadn't really worried. Here, though, he had an urge to at least impress the blond somewhat and make up for what he had done before with Reno.

"Hi, and what will you ha-… Axel!"

Axel blinked, realizing that while he had been concentrating on not overheating his brain's gears, the line had gone through until only he remained. There was Roxas, standing behind the counter, looking surprised but smiling with the top buttons of his shirt still undone and his eyes still as blue and vivid as ever.

Axel's mind went blank.

He slowly lifted his hands to rest them on the edge of the counter, staring at the blond with an expression that could have been compared to a deer in headlights. "Hi."

Roxas grinned brightly, looking actually happy to see the red-head but a little amused at the man's reaction. "I, uh, didn't expect you to come here so soon. I almost didn't recognize you with those glasses. Do you want to get anything?"

"Er." Axel gulped. In his anxiety to think of something to say, he had completely forgotten to skim the menu hanging behind the counter on the wall. He glanced up at it distractedly, but couldn't concentrate enough to read it. Maybe if Roxas stopped staring at him with that happy look… maybe if he just stopped being so adorable, then the illustrator could have pulled himself together. Instead, he was truly making a mess of things.

"Um."

"Are you alright? You look a little… out of it. Then again, maybe I'm just too fueled up on caffeine right now." The blond laughed, raising an intrigued eyebrow. Compared to Axel, Roxas was much more relaxed and seemed to take the red-head's oddities in stride. By his never-dimming smile, he appeared to be in a good mood.

Axel's throat had gone dry. "Um. I'm fine."

"Do you want something? Some coffee?"

"I don't… I don't like coffee." Axel replied stupidly, appalled at himself. _My god, pull yourself together, man! Cool! Confident!_

Roxas leaned patiently against the counter, "How about some tea, then?"

_Tea. Tea is good. Go with tea._ Clearing his throat, as well as his clogged mind, Axel made an attempt to salvage his pride and laughed sheepishly, hand moving through his hair in a nervous twitch. "A tea would be good, actually."

"Good call. Hold on a sec." The blond turned on his heel and moved to make Axel's drink. The red-head, meanwhile, stared at the other man's back to occupy himself as he idly poked his glasses back up farther on his nose. Despite the professional outfit he had on, he was still too short to be actually impressive. It was just… _cute._

Roxas returned quickly enough, sliding a full cup across to him. "Iced chai latte. It's on me."

"Are you sure? I mean, I can pay for it…" Axel frowned uncertainly, taking the offered drink. The blond shook his head.

"It's fine, it's not everyday I get to treat famous illustrators to tea. But…" A sneaky smile stole over the man, "You have to agree to wait here until I get on break in about half an hour."

Axel was startled, to be sure. "You want me to stay?"

"Hell yeah!" Roxas said, as if the answer was already obvious. "How are we supposed to hang out if you just come in and then leave? Just sit down somewhere, I swear, I'll be done soon."

"Alright…" Mystified and a little wary of the blond's friendliness, the red-head turned and headed to a table at the other end of the café, right by the window. He didn't mind waiting; in fact, that was the least of his worries, he had already finished up everything else he had wanted to do before he had arrived at the coffee shop. No, what had Axel worried was… the red-head paused.

He wasn't even entirely sure what he was worried over. He had already decided that he was keeping his relationship with Roxas strictly to friendship, right? Roxas wouldn't seek out anything more, of course, since he already had Riku. And yet, Axel couldn't shake the strange feeling of warning he felt that something about the whole situation was off.

Still, there was nothing Axel could have done to rid himself of the feeling. He would have to distract himself for the next thirty minutes. By doodling. It always helped him lose track of time, which was exactly what he needed. Axel pulled his spare pen from his pocket and snatched up one of the books he had bought earlier that morning, flipping to the back pages that were blank, and settled in to fill the spaces in. He had no qualms over drawing in his books; it gave the empty pages a purpose.

The doodles started out as they usually did; little animated animals dressed in clothes, scampering about the page. Axel had drawn Sora's characters so many times that they just flowed out naturally. However, as the time passed and Axel's cup of tea became more and more depleted, his drawings turned to the personal side as he flipped the page. He sketched out Naminè, giving her a thoughtful expression. Next came Reno, looking mischievous, as always.

Before he knew it, Axel's pen was tracing out the outline of Roxas's face without thinking while light smile stretched out the red-head's lips. He took care to make sure the blond's mouth was tipped into a grin and that his eyes were as bright as they had been when Axel had just met him at the counter. So intent was he on making the doodle perfect that he didn't notice the blond himself approaching until it was too late.

"I definitely do not look _that_ good."

"Roxas!" Axel almost jumped at the soft voice by his ears. Roxas was standing right behind him, smirking as he looked over his shoulder. A cup of coffee was clenched loosely in his hand and the blond had also managed to completely unwind and unbutton his shirt, revealing a white wife beater beneath it.

Axel was caught red-handed, being his usual weird self, doodling Roxas. It was too late to even close the book. "I was just… bored. Sorry."

"For what?" Roxas chuckled and moved to sit across from him at the table. "I don't mind you drawing me."

Axel smiled and shrugged, much more relaxed around the blond now that he had gotten rid of most of his stressed out thoughts. "I just don't think this doodle does you any justice, to be honest."

"I don't have a problem with it." Roxas accepted the casual compliment and rewarded the red-head with a smile, "If I wasn't so determined on not embarrassing myself in front of one of my favorite illustrators of all time, I would have started gushing over it. Axel Kohler, doodling _me_? Half of my friend would be insanely jealous." At Axel's laugh, the blond paused to take a sip of his coffee before continuing.

"Even worse, if you gave me that, it's quite possible I would frame it and hang it up on my wall and show it off to everyone."

"It's just a doodle." Axel had received compliments from fans before and usually took them in stride, but Roxas's praise actually made him glow somewhat with delight. He raked his fingers through his hair. "I _can_ give it to you, though. Just promise not to actually hang it up and frame it."

"I can't promise that." Roxas chuckled, sitting back in his chair. "But I'll try my best to keep it to myself."

The two fell into an easy conversation then. Roxas spent most of the time talking and Axel was more than content to listen and just observe the other man. The blond was a good speaker and he often waved his hands to emphasize a point. Eventually, however, Roxas turned the topic back to the other man.

Roxas set down his empty up of coffee. "So what did you do today? You're pretty dressed up compared to the last time I saw you."

"Ah well, see, today's Saturday, which is kind of a big deal for me."

"Oh? How so?"

Axel pondered the idea of explaining the Greek myth a moment. It wouldn't hurt, really, to tell him the general idea while skirting around the fact that he was relying on Roxas to be his king fisher. He laughed softly, finding the words coming easily to him for once. "I guess I can start by saying that I had a kind of crappy life before college. Everyday, it seemed, something bad would happen to me. Something just plain shitty. Then I found out about this myth about Halcyon Days. It's Greek, and they say that they basically represent 14 days of peace and solace before winter begins."

Roxas was listening intently, leaning forward and looking truly interested in the story. He nodded for Axel to continue.

"And in my mind, that sounded perfect. A halcyon day felt like something of a perfect day. Where everything is calm and nothing wrong happens. So I got it into my head to have an absolutely perfect day. A halcyon day. So every Saturday, I got out and attempt to just do all my favorite things and just have this flawless, ideal, easy-going day."

"Was today one of them, then?" Roxas asked curiously, curious and simultaneously fascinated. Axel slowly traced his finger over the rim of his cup.

"Well, today was an attempt, yes. It's been going alright so far, I guess, but it just didn't _feel_ perfect, you know? It's like something's missing."

The blond grinned abruptly, his voice changing to a teasing tone as he moved in closer, propping his chin on his hand. "What, even with me? It's still not perfect?"

_Oh, you have no idea._

"Ah ha…" Axel forced out a few laughs, eyeing the distance between their faces, "It made it a little better, I'll give you that much."

Roxas pushed himself back into his seat from where he had been leaning close to the table. "That's cool, though, I've never heard of that myth before. That's a cool goal to have, in my opinion. I don't really have something driving me through life everyday. Maybe I should take up getting a halcyon day, myself."

"It kinda becomes an obsession over time, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Better than just working at a coffee shop day to day." The blond shrugged, turning his head to take a glance about the café. Axel watched him, then nearly jumped as Roxas allowed the chair had been leaning back in to fall back onto all four legs. "Riku!"

Axel shot a look in the direction that Roxas was staring. Sure enough, there was Riku, making his way around the tables towards the pair by the windows.

"Hey, Roxie." Riku grinned, flicking his hair over his shoulder. As he spotted Axel, though, his eyes darkened. "See you're already a little occupied."

_Roxie?!_ Axel's dislike for the silver-haired man shot up few a notches. _Must stay… calm. Can't punch out Roxas's boyfriend. _

Roxas didn't notice his boyfriend's obvious mood change, nor Axel's, and smiled as he stood, allowing Riku to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. Axel's hands curled into fists.

"Oh, yeah, Axel just happened to be in the area, I guess, and he stopped by. What're you doing here?"

"Oh, I, uh…" Riku peered for a split second over Roxas's shoulder to frown at the red-head, who still hadn't moved from his spot, before turning his full attention to the blond. "I just came here to talk to you. I missed you."

"Well, we can talk."

"It's kinda… private, Roxie..."

Roxas sighed, rolling his eyes, "_Fine. _Can you wait here, Axel?"

"Fine." Axel managed to grit out, staring at a space somewhere between Roxas's feet, "I'll just, y'know…. Be here."

As Roxas was led away by Riku, a familiar little animal entered Axel's peripheral.

"You made Riku jealous, you know."

"Naminè." Axel glanced down briefly at the little bird now perched on the table, unsurprised. He kept his voice low so that the rest of the customers around him wouldn't start staring at him for talking to himself. "How could I make him jealous? The man's just possessive."

"Oh, no, Riku can sense when he's got competition, and you're it." Naminè replied cheerfully with a small flutter of her wings.

"… Aren't you supposed to be on his side? He_ is_ Roxas's boyfriend…."

"Hmph." The kingfisher sniffed, turning up her beak, "I don't like him."

"Seems like a decent guy." Axel shrugged, looking down at his almost empty tea, unwilling to watch any more of the interaction between Riku and Roxas, "And Roxas is happy with him, so that's all that matters."

Naminè surprised Axel by abruptly shifting from her usual calm self to shuffling about on the table, looking as displeased as a bird possibly could. "But he's not, that's the point! He's not supposed to be with Riku at all! It's against everything! He's not Ceyx, you are!"

"You mentioned that yesterday, too." Axel murmured, staring at the little bird. "What could the legend of Ceyx and Alcyone have to do with this? I mean, I know it's the back-story to the Halcyon days, but you're not suggesting that this is tied in somehow, are you? That I'm Ceyx and Roxas is… "

The bird quieted. "Haven't you felt the pull yet?"

The pull? Was that what the strange nagging feeling from before had been? Some sort of pull? Axel only frowned, not liking where the conversation was going. "I may like Roxas a little, a _little_, but it's not love. And Roxas doesn't love me. We are _not _doing a repeat of that story. I'm keeping this to strictly friendship for both our sakes. You know as well as I do that-"

"-that those two die. Yes. I know." At Axel's silence, the bird sighed, "You want Roxas so that you can get your 'perfect day', right? You think that he'll be something like your sign, your lucky charm to getting that halcyon day."

Easy question. The red-head nodded. Naminè continued, managing something of a bird-like shrug, "Well, I want something from you for Roxas' sake, too."

"Wait, so you're using me?" Axel quirked a surprised eyebrow, taking a short sip of his remaining drink so that he wouldn't start to look suspicious. He hadn't expected that answer. "What would you possibly need me for? What could _Roxas_ possibly need me for? I'm nothing to him, just an illustrator and a neighbor."

"Don't you know what we're here for, muses? Most pin us down as sources of inspiration, but we're actually here to make sure that our partners fulfill what they were meant in life to do. Inspiration is usually just what helps the process along."

Axel allowed the new information to sink in a moment but found that he couldn't be deterred from the more pressing matter. "You didn't answer my question."

"And I'm not going to. It's for your own good." Naminè laughed with soft chirping sounds, "Don't worry. It's like I said, you just keep with what you're doing, keep Roxas on your good side, and you should be fine. You can't fight fate."

"I'm not entirely sure I want to know at this point. Seriously… for a little innocent bird, you know, you kinda scare me." Axel muttered, finally deciding that enough was enough with Naminè's vague hints. Outside, past the large windows of the café, it had already grown dim. The sun was setting behind the buildings, painting some of the sky a pale orange. The red-head grabbed his tea and turned to leave, intending to finish off the rest of it on the walk home.

"Good luck." The kingfisher hopped from the table to take to the air and fly over to Roxas and settle down on his shoulder. Naturally, the blond didn't react. Axel had almost forgotten, in his discussion with Naminè, that Riku and Roxas were even present, but as soon as he saw the pair, his stomach lurched and the urge to say a proper goodbye vanished.

Axel managed to make it to the exit without incident, when the blond noticed him leaving.

"Hey, Axel!"

Taking a deep breath, Naminè's words still heavy in his mind, the red-head turned around briefly, flashing a smile as he waved once. "I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

The red-head didn't miss the slightly hurt expression on the other man's face, but he shook off the regret and walked out of the coffee shop without a backwards look.

Another Halcyon Day wasted.

* * *

"So how'd it go?" Reno was ready and waiting in the living room when Axel had returned. The illustrator shrugged, shutting the door behind him and beginning to peel off his outer clothes. He grunted, not bothering to reply as he tossed his scarf over his shoulder.

"That well, huh?" The ferret stood on his hind legs, nose twitching as he observed his friend. "Did you at least meet up with Roxas?"

"Yeah." Axel pulled out the letter from the blond that he had kept in his pocket the entire day. He gave it a long look, then tossed it on the nearby table. "And Naminè, too."

Reno made a soft growling noise. "And now we get to the heart of the problem."

"Apparently, I'm going to help her with something for Roxas."

Axel joined his muse on the couch and Reno proceeded to scurry onto the red-head's stomach. "What did she mean by that?"

"Oh, she kept mum about that." The illustrator dug his hands into his hair, hoping to relieve some of the tension in his head. "She mentioned something about a pull. And that I can't fight fate."

"Ah, the plot thickens." Reno quipped, tail flicking back and forth with amusement. "You, Roxas, halcyon days, a pull, and fate. Not to mention that whole Ceyx/Alcyone business. I wonder what that could mean. How'd the meeting with Roxas go, at least?"

"We talked a while. Then Riku came in and ruined it for me. I spent most of the time feeling sick to my stomach with worry, though." Axel stared at the opposite wall, frowning. He had finally, at least, figured out what he had been so anxious about.

The ferret made an intrigued sound. "What were you worried about?"

Axel laughed bitterly, shaking his head, "That I won't be able to just stay content with friendship with Roxas."

"Still fighting fate, huh?"

The red-head froze, eyes snapping over to glare at Reno, "Don't tell me you've got something to do with this fate thing, too?"

"My lips are sealed." Reno hopped off and fled to a distance just out of Axel's reach to make sure he was safe, his sneaky, pleased expression plastered over his furry face.

Axel, meanwhile, threw his hands up in annoyance, "Everyone knows something except me! What is this!?"

"I'll give you a hint; it starts with the letter F…"

Axel had never expected anything like destiny or fate to interfere with his life. He did things his way. He shaped his own future. The halcyon days was just a quirk, a hobby, a goal in life. Ceyx and Alcyone were just a part of the story. Love a slight detail.

But the red strings of fate had wrapped around Axel tightly and the red-head couldn't help but suspect that at the other end, Roxas was in the same kind of trap as he was.

* * *

Phew. This chapter took a lot out of me. Mostly because of Naminè's scene. I think i'll be proofing and fixing up details for a while with this one, but i'm too braindead now to do it xD

I apologize for the lack of Reno. He will return in greater prominence next chapter, I swear.

And now, for my last trick (I'll make this pencil disappear), I will update Special Discount before Otakon this Friday :D We'll see how that goes. xD Don't forget to review!


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